Schools in Sri Lanka will come out with greater enthusiasm once again as the national sport, volleyball, is expected to grip them with the DSI Supersport Volleyball Championship scheduled to get underway on May 7. This tournament is going to be held after
a two year break.

The break was unavoidable as the officials who started the Supersport Volleyball Tournament for schoolchildren were out of office. Now, the new set office bearers led by W.G.S. Erandika has vowed to uplift the sport once again. The new committee is looking for sponsors to conduct at least six national tournaments every year. This tournament will give the players the needed encouragement to do well and get selected to the national team.

“I am not a person who indulges in much talk, but want to get things done. My main objective is to find the finances to conduct tournaments. I gained a lot of knowledge after having a three hour discussion with the officials at DSI regarding the conduct of tournaments of such magnitude,” added Erandika.

This tournament will be conducted in three stages, namely the district level, national level and the finals. The tournament will begin with the first level and is open to boys and girls in the age groups of under-14, 16 and 18 years and will begin on May 7 and continue till June 6. The National level matches will be held from June 20 to 26 and the final matches on July 15 and 16.

This tournament, which began with only 198 teams 16 years ago, has grown with the number of participating teams increasing to over 5,000 at present. Entries are still rolling in and the districts including the North and East are still busy entertaining entries. The process of sending and accepting entries was delayed due to the holiday season.

DSI is coming forward to sponsor this event for the 16th time. This tournament has turned out to be very popular and is followed by a large number of fans.

“It is a big victory for the company to support a sport of such magnitude knowing the increase in the number of teams that are participating. We love to give back to the children who are participating with such great enthusiasm,” said Thusitha Rajapakse the Managing Director of D. Samson Industries.

The tournament will begin with matches in twenty five districts. Matches will begin on May 7. The tournament is held in conjunction with the School Volleyball Association, Ministry of Education and the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation.